Fall restraint equipment may include platforms, ramps, bridges, steps, guardrails, gangways, cages, and other support structures. Gangways, for instance, may be used to provide access to an area, such as the top of a storage container. For example, a semi-trailer truck or a railroad carriage transporting dry goods may need to be unloaded from the container's top. A gangway is used to provide workers a path to unload the material. Additionally, an articulating cage may be lowered from the gangway or, alternatively, from a support structure in order to encase the area from which the material is to be unloaded. An example of fall restraint equipment and an articulating cage may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,657, which is incorporated by reference as if set forth verbatim herein. Cumbersome and/or relatively expensive arrangements of counterbalances and/or chains are currently used to facilitate the movement of such articulating cages.
The major portions of fall restraint equipment are presently constructed by a process involving cutting and welding a large number of smaller components together. The process requires a relatively substantial amount of time, manpower, and components.